Dissertation Information for Qamar-ul Huda NAME: - Qamar-ul Huda
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- History
SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (1998)
ADVISORS: - Michael Morony
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Stanley Wolpert - Afaf Lufti-Al-Sayyid Marsot - Nazir Jairazbhoy
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: The sufi order of Shaikh 'Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Suhrawardi and the transfer of Suhrawardiyya religious ideology to Multan
Abstract: The evolutionary progression of the Suhrawardi sufi order is analyzed during the early thirteenth century to the mid-fourteenth century. Shaikh 'Umar al-Suhrawardi 's role as a religious advisor to caliph al-Nasir allowed him to forge relationships with fityan groups and Isma'i li s, and to build alliances for the 'Abbasid state. As the leading shaikh of his sufi order, he advocated a balanced way of life that included greater cooperation between sufi s and the state, and strict obedience to the shari'a. For reasons that served his sufi order and the caliph al-Nasir, al-Suhrawardi 's reformist ideas connected the two areas of political participation and tasawwuf as they had never been before.
A thorough examination of al-Suhrawardi 's sufi treatise, 'Awarif al-Ma'arif, provides an understanding as to why he required the strict observance of rituals, hierarchies, religious worship, social etiquette, and obedience to political authority. According to al-Suhrawardi, each person needed to build an internal and external discipline (adab) in order to be prepared to enter paradise and unite with the divine.
The ways in which successive Suhrawardi yya sufi s in Multan reconstructed, recollected, and implemented the religious ideology and identity of the Suhrawardi order is explored. A wide range of sufi hagiographical literature demonstrates that Multani Suhrawardi yya had a greater challenge to adjusting and assimilating to their unstable political climate. While prominent Suhrawardi yya shaikhs like Baha' al-din Zakariyya and Sadr al-din 'Arif held the office of Shaikh ul-Islam in the Delhi Sultanate, there was still uncertainty to as whether the state truly supported the order. Muhammad ibn Tughluq's assassination of Shaikh Yusuf Hud was a major turning point for Multani Suhrawardi yya because it marked the total loss of control of their khanqah and succession.
In midst of their chaos, the Suhrawardi yya still managed to preserve a sacred identity that was reinforced in specific tasawwuf rituals. The rituals of dhikr, salam, the recitation of nat'iyya poetry, khatam an-nabiya', and the ninety-names of the Prophet all communicated a pious recreation of a sacred time that would connect them to the presence of the Prophet. Aside from these rituals, the landscape of Suhrawardi khanqahs are non-verbal symbols of their sacred identity. The elaborate designs on glazed tiles, Qur'anic inscriptions, and open spaces were all deliberately constructed to bring about a transcendental experience for anyone who entered the sacred grounds.
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MPACT Scores for Qamar-ul Huda A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-10-09 11:05:36
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